More cuts at DMN

I know there are old threads on this topic, but bear with me. The Dallas Morning News is making another round of cuts, so far 17 or 18 in advertising and marketing, but more are expected today in the newsroom. Here's the link to DMN Cuts, a blog written by an insider at the DMN.

http://dmncuts.blogspot.com/2011/08/layoffs-today-in-advertising-and.html

 

I remember hearing years back that they had the biggest sports department in America. I imagine that can't be true now. Which newspaper has the most? Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and USA Today would be my three two frontrunners.

 

Still dedicating a lot of resources to sports, though. I believe they will be providing live play-by-play from up to 50 high school football games each weekend. Anyone else in the country doing something like that?

 

At my first job, my SE flew down and spent a week in Dallas observing how they did things because it was presumed that the DMN was the best section in the country, or at least the best of the sections that weren't considered "national" like the some of the NY, LA and Washington papers.

I know a lot has changed in the last 5-10 years or so, but a decade ago, I would have said the best preps coverage in the country was at the Dallas Morning News or the St. Pete Times. I have no idea if that's still the case. I know of major papers that have zero prep writers on staff. There have been times when Dallas or St. Pete had 8-10.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer almost certainly not that big anymore. USA Today or Wash Post certainly seem like good bets for biggest staff.

 

I just remembered the Inquirer and Daily News share a website, so that explains my mistaken inclusion of them on the list. So many bylines on that website, so many columnists. USA Today and Washington Post, then, would be my frontrunners.

 

Growing up in Oklahoma as an avid reader of newspapers in high school and college, I always thought the DMN was how a sports section should be. Now, I wonder at times if the Oklahoman has passed them with Mike Sherman at the helm.

 

For all the shit that DMN's been through, its sports section is still pretty good (not like the old Dave Smith days, but it's still definitely readable)... Fort Worth is the city that took the big hits.

 

Thirteen full-time prep sports writers, or 13 people who covered Friday night football games?

That is remarkable either way.

 

Times had 13 part-time (32-hour) and full-time (40) at one point. Number is probably half that now.

 

Just did a quick counting of high school game coverage. Based on what's on each paper's Web site by 5 a.m. ET Saturday:

• The Washington Post covered six games and ran a gamer from the Prince George's County Gazette, a weekly the company owns. I don't think this should count as a seventh game covered, and I really doubt it ran in print.
• The Dallas Morning News covered five games and ran a gamer from NeighborsGo.com, a weekly community news product the newspaper itself owns, so I'd count it as a sixth.
• The St. Petersburg Times covered five games, but preps columnist John C. Cotey doesn't appear to have been in action. If I missed his column, it may have also been six.
• The Kansas City Star, as a slightly smaller counterpoint, covered three games.
• The Oregonian, as one of the biggest newspapers without MLB or NFL to worry about, seemed to cover about four games, but the way they post them online, it was difficult to tell exactly how many were covered rather than phoned in.

Can't speak to the quality of these pieces. Clearly, though, no one is covering 20 or even 10 games on a night these days.